Sample Work Rules

An employer has the right to expect his or her employees to conform to a reasonable standard of conduct. Employees who act in an inappropriate or unreasonable manner can damage your business by creating unhappy coworkers or, even worse, unhappy customers or clients. While you might feel that it should be obvious what is appropriate and what is not, it is very risky to assume every employee will share your views. One of the best ways to make it clear what you expect is to have a set of general work rules.

Written work rules can go a long way in informing your employees what you expect of them and the consequences of not meeting expectations. A person who has been put on notice that some types of conduct are unacceptable cannot claim ignorance when he or she engages in the prohibited conduct. Also, written work rules serve to remind employees that you're serious about presenting the business to the public in the best possible light.

The tool you can download below provides an example of general rules to be respected in the work environment to help you manage your human resources. You may adapt it to match your business needs and your country's customs and national regulations. It is recommended to ask for a lawyer/expert’s advice. While you may have need of more extensive work rules that relate specifically to the conduct of your business, these general rules will form a solid basis for creating your own set of work rules.

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The material in this work is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. IFC does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the content included in this work, or for the conclusions or judgments described herein, and accepts no responsibility or liability for any omissions or errors (including, without limitation, typographical errors and technical errors) in the content whatsoever or for reliance thereon.